Labor Day weekend may be behind us but there are still festivities planned for September.

Make plans to attend the 39th Annual Mountain View Art & Wine Festival. An annual crowd-pleaser, there is something for everyone at Silicon Valley’s World-Class Art & Music Festival.

The festival features a variety of venues, which include 600 professional artists and craftmakers displaying their creations, entertaining live music with headliners The Groove Kings and Department of Rock, the new Comcast Pigskin Party Lounge with giant screen TV, tasty food and drink including premium wines, microbrews, mojitos (yummy) and margaritas.  There will also be health and wellness displays, a green products showcase, home and garden exhibits and a special memorial ceremony to honor the heroes from 9/11. And they haven’t forgotten about the kids; your little ones will find an action-packed Kids’ Park with the School of Rock Stage, climbing wall, amusements and decorative body art to keep them entertained.

So much entertainment that we hope 2 days is enough time to cover all the festivities.  And the best part…admission is free.

Mountain View Art & Wine Festival
when: September 11-12, 2010 – 10 AM to 6 PM
where: On Castro Street between El Camino Real and Evelyn Avenue Downtown Mountain View, California

Event map to help you get around the festival.

A trusted builder with a proven track record has become an important part of the homebuying process. That is why we are proud to share that Regis Homes of Northern California was  ranked as one the top Residential Real Estate Builder by the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal Top 25 List (April 30, 2010). The list is a compilation of the top residential real estate builders, ranked by number of home sales in the Silicon Valley in 2009. Regis Homes of Northern California ranked #2 in Townhouse Sales and #3 in Overall Total Sales! The list can be found here: Silicon Valley Business Journal Top 25

Learn more about the builder behind Gables End.

Regis Homes of Northern California, Inc., is one of Northern California’s leading home-building companies, specializing in well-designed, well-located, high quality homes. Regis Homes has built more than 1,000 residencies throughout Northern California and has earned a reputation for employing sustainable land use, innovative design, quality construction and attention to detail. The firm’s new communities tend to be smaller, smart growth, urban infill projects close to city centers that are also nearby work, public transportation and commute corridors. The communities are also close to desirable amenities such as parks, shopping centers and services. The Regis design approach has garnered many industry awards together with respect of its homebuyers.

If you are considering a purchase at Gables End, you can be confident in the quality of construction and competence of the builder of your new home.

Back in December 2009, we posted a short entry summarizing the I Love Mountain View Site.  At that point the website was still relatively new but we saw great potential for the site becoming one of the better local resources for all who live, work  and play in Mountain View.

Well, almost a year later, the website has exceeded our expectations. The site is actually a blog site sponsored by the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce. Well vetted, with an attention for local vendors and activities, it is an excellent resource and one that should not be missed.

“I Love Mountain View” blog covers a variety of topics regarding life in our exciting community. It’s rare to find a site that addresses multiple age groups and a variety of topics.

They have categorized and tagged the posts so searching their site is very easy.  A RSS feed and an easy-to-read community calendar round out the site.  The site is sure to have  something for every member of the family:

What’s on your list of to-do’s this weekend? Peninsula life offers great weather, culture and plenty of festivals. This weekend artists and craftspeople are coming together in our neighboring Palo Alto for the annual community extravaganza: Festival of The Arts – 2010 • August 28 & 29 • 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. • University Avenue, Palo Alto.

Attracting over 150,000 people from throughout the peninsula, California and the West Coast, the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts celebrates its 29th year on the tree-lined University Avenue in downtown Palo Alto. Three hundred fine artists and crafters, whose display booths are placed back-to-back, attract a high percentage of fine artists whose work you’ll see only at a few select shows on the West Coast.

Always a crowd-pleaser, the Italian Street Painting Expo will once again offer fifty chalk artists creating larger-than-life works of art all weekend long on Tasso Street. This year’s new beneficiary of the Italian Street Painting Expo’s Kids Chalk-a-Lot area is the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation.

Art, live music, food and drink await all who attend. There are two stages on Waverley & Webster, plus street corner entertainment. Four food courts and 3 wine and beer booths can also be found at this years event. That is a lot of ground to cover -map out your way at the festival here !

Looking for a particular artist? A complete list of participating artists can be found on the official website.

Enjoy the creative talent and beauty that our great Peninsula offers!

There are a number of reasons why people purchase at Gables End.  Here is a short list of our ten favorite things about Gables End:

1. Location. Mountain View is a Civic-Minded community with progressive services (one of the first to offer free WiFi to its citizens)…thank you, Google.
2. Opportunity. We are located in the vocational and economic hub of Silicon Valley.
3. Affordability.  Gables End represents one of the Silicon Valley’s best new home values.
4. Lifestyle. Our community design encourages outdoor activities with walkways, mature trees, quiet sitting spaces and the Central Lawn with its grand arbor.
5. Community. Charming recreational building for community gatherings or special events.
6. Architecture. 3-story new construction homes designed in the charming and traditional cross gable architectural style.
7. Livability. Gables End has varied floor plans, with the choice of two, three or four bedrooms accommodating a variety of lifestyles.
8. Finishes.  We offer new homes with quality features and fixtures found throughout each plan.
9. Spacious. Roomy and light filled floor plans create volume and make for a dramatic lifestyle.
10. Convenience. Each home has a private two-car garage with direct access.

If any of these top ten items sound appealing, you owe it to yourself to stop by and visit Gables End while we still have a few homes remaining.

Gables End is on Facebook and Twitter, follow along for specially priced homes, community events, local business spotlights and incentives!

Regis Homes of Northern California and Wells Fargo are offering another compelling reason to buy now! Limited time NEW 2.875% rate with a min down payment of 3.5%, restrictions do apply (see disclosure).* You could be in your home this summer, but you have to act fast as there are just a few homes remaining at Gables End. Join us this weekend for a tour of our most popular plan – The Glencoe! With over 100 happy owners already calling Gables End “home”, come see for yourself why we are Mountain View’s best selling residential community.

Now Selling Model Homes Loaded with upgrades at Gables End.

Glencoe- 3 bed/ 2.5 bath, great for entertaining, granite counter tops in kitchen, high ceilings, patio/deck, extra storage, 2 car garage, and skylight.

Gables End is on Facebook and Twitter, follow along for specially priced homes, community events, local business spotlights and incentives!

Summer is here and  that means Bay Area festival season is in full swing. We can think of no better way to spend a sunny weekend day than with a fine collection of exhibits, great music and wonderful food & drink.

If this type of venue sounds appealing to you, head to downtown Menlo Park for the 24th Annual Connoisseurs’ Marketplace, July 17-18. This year’s event will feature something for everyone – world-class art by 250 of America’s top artists, two days of great music, engaging chefs’ demos, fabulous food and drink, tons of fun for kids, artisan specialty food purveyors, a new collector car show, home and garden exhibits, health and wellness displays and an organic and green products showcase.

Watch the video below and take a look at their website for more information.

Do you love the water and the great outdoors? Then you’ll be excited about all of the work being done to improve Alviso Park.

For the first time in 25 years, recreational boaters can launch their vessels from Alviso Marina County Park. Residents of South Bay and the Peninsula are now more connected than ever and have an easier way to get to San Francisco Bay.

The new boat launch includes a pier for non-motorized craft, such as kayaks and canoes, and another for launching large motorized boats. This improvement effort is part of an ongoing project to revitalize the Alviso area. The Alviso Park upgrade also includes a parking lot for boat trailers. Phase 1 of the wetland improvement project, completed in 2005, involved such improvements as walking boardwalks throughout the slough area, observation decks, picnic areas, natural landscaping and interpretive trails.

Once a hotbed of activity for fishermen and businesses, the local residents believe that the new launch will be good for Alviso. Boaters and non-boaters alike will find something new to do with this ambitious wetland improvement.

Having convenient access to outdoor recreation in such close proximity to Gables End is just one of the many reasons that we love Mountain View and all it has to offer.

If you don’t already have plans for this upcoming weekend, you may want to participate in the 2010 Dream Mile 5K/10K. Vibha’s Dream Mile Walk/Run is a great cause and an excellent reason to get outdoors and help those who are far less fortunate.

The Dream Mile is the flagship event in Vibha’s continued efforts to increase awareness about the plight of underprivileged children. The Dream Mile event has come a long way since its humble beginning in 1998, growing from being a small volunteers and friends event to a permanent fixture on the calendars of runners in the various cities in America.

This year Vibha has partnered with My New Red Shoes(MNRS), a San Francisco Bay Area non-profit organization. Part of the proceeds from Dream Mile 2010 will be donated to MNRS to help underprivileged kids right here in the Bay Area.

Find out more about donating or volunteering for this event by clicking here.